This Previously Undiscovered Andy Warhol Artwork Has Been Trapped on Floppy Disks for 30 Years

Cory Arcangel had a hunch: after seeing this video of Andy Warhol demonstrating the 1985 Commodore Amiga 1000's image-editing software, he guessed that some old Amiga stuff lying around the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh may have some hidden treasure inside of it. He hooked up with the Carnegie-Mellon University Computer Club, a student group that restores vintage computers. They determined that even reading the data on the floppy disks could cause irreparable damage, so they had to devise complicated and unorthodox methods of computer wizardry to extract the delicate data.

After months of trying, they determined that some of the disks contained image files saved by Warhol himself, and managed to unearth 28 never-before-seen images, 11 of which were signed. They include Warholiana like self-portraiture and Campbell's soup cans.

A short documentary called Trapped about the recovery project will premiere in Pittsburgh on May 10, and be made available online on May 12.